Hi back in July I came home from Holiday to find that I had been robbed.
Along with my Home theatre gear they took my old Laptop and my Philips RU940’S.
The insurance company are replacing my laptop with a Toshiba A10 PRO with windows XP Professional (my old lap top had Windows 98) this new laptop has 2X USB2 connections but no serial connector .
Also the insurance company can not supply RU940’S or RU950’S and are supplying Marantz RC5200 instead. Having used pronto edit 4 for my RU940’S I will now have to use Touchscreen which I have downloaded it seems very similar and I have converted my existing CCF’S .
I like to know about potential problems before they happen so I would really appreciate any feedback. I will receive the replacements some time next week..
Here are a few questions (sorry if they sound a bit stupid!)

1. I have seen the threads about USB to serial problems is it the same story with USB 2 (I know they are supposed to be backward compatible to USB 1.1)

2. Are there any problems with XP PROFESSIONAL?

3. I have converted CCF for my RU940 ready for the RC5200 apart from the extra hard buttons is there any tips or potential problems with doing this

4. In the UK has anyone got the RF feature to work reliably X10 direct even though its not designed to do so

Thanks in advance
Bob

Bob,

#1 - Some adapters work, others don't. It seems to vary with your brand of computer. There is a model of Keyspan adapter that most people find works. Do a search of the forum.

#2 - No, works better than Win 98.

#3 - You know that the 5200 screen has a larger programmable area don't you? Your 940 ccf pages will be centered in the display on the 5200, with blank (white areas) above and below. Additionally, there are multiple jumps available in an action list as well as jump back and forward.

#4 - Don't know for sure, but I believe the answer is yes. Do a search in the forum, I know some people on the continent have been doing this.

Jim L

Cheers Jim L !
i didnt know about the larger programmmable area or the multiple jumps.(why do you want multiple jumps?)
I have done the searches but the guys who have got X10 working but they havent put there CCfs on the files section and they didnt say how reliable they are.
I like to see how someone else has done it then re-do it my way if you know what i mean?!

Thanks Jim L
if anyone has any other info its most welcome
cheers Bob

Bob,

With multiple jumps you can do crude animation. Check out this ccf (it's color) when you hit the play DVD button [Link: remotecentral.com].

Sounds like you got the insurance straightened out. At least you got some better equipment out of the deal.

Jim L

Bob,

Also for jumps what you can do at the start of your macro is jump to a page that would say "Please wait, executing macro" and then at the end of your macro jump to another page that says "Thanks for waiting, operation complete!".

Martin :-)

P.S. Also glad to hear that you resolved your insurance issue.

glad to hear the insurance issue is resolved.

As to your questions.

1) Like Jim said, there is none that is guaranteed to work. Also PE can use com port 1 an 2 and if they are used it looks at the larger numbers (and stops at the first unused com port). So if the USB adapter forces comport 3 and 1 and 2 are not in use then it will not work. Also make sure you don't get a PDA-USB adapter, they don't work

2) XP is OK

3) The Marantz does not have timers and beeps, so if you used them you will loose those features. On the other hand you will gain some new ones. As to the editors they are mostly the same, so it should not be an issue.

4) It should work (if you have the X10 with RF receivers or an RF->X10 gateway). But like you said, I have not seen any CCFs with the codes and David's site has gone down on how to get the codes.

Cheeers lads! my lap top comes tommorrow
I think i will redesign my ccf .I enjoy the endless tweeking I have missed it.
when Sky tv bring out new channels (usually one a week) finding a new logo that looks good .
i suppose my point is i didnt know how much i loved my remotes till they were gone!